A clinical diagnosis of muteness can bring some clarity after someone suddenly stops talking, but it also comes with a lot of questions. How is something like muteness treated? Where do you go for support after a diagnosis? If you or a loved one recently received a diagnosis of mutism, this article will address your most pressing questions, including:

• How do I find service providers for muteness?
• How can family members and friends help their loved one who has been diagnosed with mutism?
• How is selective mutism treated?
• How is cerebellar mutism treated?
• How are other forms of muteness treated?
• What technology can help with mutism?
• Where can I get more information about muteness?

How do I find service providers for muteness?

Finding a service provider for muteness is the key to getting the help you need. Your family doctor or pediatrician is a good first step. After the initial diagnosis process, your primary care physician can give you a specialist referral.

Many schools maintain databases of trusted speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and other communication specialists. If your child is experiencing muteness, their school may be an excellent place for resources including child psychologists, occupational/physical therapists for children, and individualized education plans (IEPs) to help a child who is nonverbal succeed in school.

In addition, Ability Central offers a national database of non-profit organizations that specialize in helping people who are mute. The Service Locator tool allows you to search a wide range of service types, including organizations that offer support groups, specialized care, and more.

Each provider lists their location, specialties, and target demographic. Visit the full database to find an organization near you.

How can family members and friends help their loved one who has been diagnosed with mutism?

Supporting a loved one diagnosed with muteness requires a combination of empathy, patience, and effective communication. Often, muteness in all its forms can be extremely isolating, especially if someone’s muteness stems from social anxiety. 

For people who are mute, the best support from family members involves creating a supportive and collaborative environment where it’s safe for the person to communicate. To make a loved one with mutism more comfortable, try the following:

• Create an environment where the person feels valued.
• Encourage alternative communication methods like writing, sign language, or assistive devices. 
• Allow the person to communicate at their own pace and without pressure. 
• Actively listen to their nonverbal cues, gestures, and expressions. 
• Avoid completing their sentences or interrupting them.
• Consider family therapy in addition to behavior therapy.
• When a person with mutism needs to face unfamiliar places or people, such as traveling or meeting a new doctor, make sure your loved one knows what to expect from the situation by offering support and answering any questions they may have. 
• When possible, inform new people of your loved one’s muteness in a supportive and collaborative way. Invite strangers to communicate in the most comfortable way possible for your loved one, but don’t speak for your loved one if they want to communicate for themself.

How is selective mutism treated?

Selective mutism is a form of muteness, typically seen in children, that develops as a result of severe social anxiety or trauma. Treatment of selective mutism focuses on the following:

• Decreasing anxiety
• Increasing verbal communication in a variety of settings
• Positive reinforcement for not only speaking, but succeeding at alternative methods of communication

A doctor may prescribe medication to help with anxiety, but the primary focus is on behavioral and cognitive strategies. 

These might include things like social skills training, stimulus fading interventions, or teaching a person who is mute how to recognize and cope with the symptoms of anxiety. Some people with mutism also benefit from traditional talk therapy with a trusted provider. 

About 46% of children with selective mutism improve with proper intervention.

How is cerebellar mutism treated?

Cerebellar mutism is muteness that follows surgery to remove a tumor from the brain. While some adults have this form of mutism, it’s most commonly found in children. Between 8 and 31% of children who undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor will experience pediatric cerebellar mutism syndrome (pCMS). 

This form of mutism typically appears between a few hours and 11 days after surgery. Most cases of pCMS last between 1 and 6 months, but some can last much longer. 

Some children continue to have speech difficulties well into adulthood. The longer the mutism period of pCMS lasts, the more likely children with pCMS are to develop further speech issues.

Like all forms of mutism, treatment for pCMS depends on early intervention and long-term planning. Treatment options for pCMS include:

• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech-language therapy
• Medications like stimulants or memory-boosting neurotransmitter modulators

How are other forms of muteness treated?

The other most common forms of mutism are organic mutism and aphasia. Aphasia causes speech difficulties like slurring or grunting, while organic mutism causes total or near-total speech loss. Both conditions are typically the result of brain injuries like a stroke lor damage from drug abuse, although aphasia can also develop due to the growth of a brain tumor.

Treatments for aphasia and organic mutism include:

• Speech-language therapy
• Physical therapy
• Certain medications, like those that improve blood flow to the brain

What technology can help with mutism?

Augmentative alternative communication (AAC) are systems and devices that help people with limited verbal skills or who are nonverbal communicate with others. Augmentative devices supplement someone’s speech skills, while alternative devices offer communication options for people who are completely nonverbal. AAC devices and practices are divided into three categories:

• High-tech, like tablets, amplifiers, and text-to-speech software.
• Low-tech, like drawing tools, communication boards, and picture books.
• No-tech, like sign language, facial expressions, and body language.

There are many apps created to help people with muteness, including:

• Predictable, an app designed for people who are literate but cannot speak due to cerebral palsy (CP), motor neuron disease, laryngectomy, autism (ASD), stroke, apraxia, brain injury, or muteness.
• Proloquo2Go and Proloquo4Text. Proloquo2Go eases daily communication by offering quick-tap pictures or symbols matched to pre-recorded audio, while Proloquo4Text uses intuitive word and sentence prediction to help people with speech difficulties communicate faster and more intelligibly.
• Talk for Me - Text to Speech, which allows users to type into the text area or tap one of six main custom buttons, and the iOS device will talk for them. 
• Voice4u, a picture-based communication app for those who have speech challenges.

Ability Central offers a searchable database of mobile devices with accessibility features designed to help people who are mute communicate.

Where can I get more information about muteness?

Ability Central offers a series of articles to further your knowledge about muteness. See:

• What Keeps Someone From Talking? Information You Should Know About Muteness
• How to Recognize the Early Signs of Muteness
• Long-term Care Strategies for Muteness